The present invention relates to an image display method and apparatus for a rearview camera mounted on a vehicle, and in particular to an image display method and apparatus for a rearview camera mounted on a vehicle for assistance of a driver when a vehicle is backed and a coupling member attached at the rear of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a “hitch”) is coupled to a trailer.
A vehicle, that mounts apparatus where a rearview camera is attached to the rear of the vehicle and an image from the rearview camera is displayed on a car navigation screen at the driver's seat for the purpose of safety check, has recently been in wide use. A wide angle camera is used as a rearview camera in order to avoid collision with an rearward obstacle when a vehicle is backed for parking. A wide range is accommodated in a single screen.
Some vehicles have a hitch at the rear of the vehicle in order to couple a trailer or a camper to the back, when a trailer is coupled to the hitch, the vehicle is backed so that the hitch on the vehicle may engage a coupling member of the trailer. It is quite difficult for a driver to accurately back the vehicle so that the hitch mounted in a blind spot from the driver may engage the coupling member on the trailer.
In case an assistant is available, he/she can instruct the backing sequence to the driver. When the driver is alone, it is difficult to couple a hitch with a trailer. However, a vehicle mounting a rearview camera facilitates the coupling work. As mentioned earlier, a wide angle camera is used as a rearview camera, and the wide angle camera provides a more distorted image as compared with the actual image. Thus, it requires a considerable skill for a driver alone to accurately back the vehicle and perform coupling work while watching the image from the rearview camera.